NEW YORK-Friday, August 25th 2017 [ AETOS Wire ]
(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, WeWork Companies (“WeWork”) announced an agreement for a $4.4 billion investment from the SoftBank Group (“SoftBank”) and the SoftBank Vision Fund (“Vision Fund”).
This investment will accelerate WeWork’s ability to connect more people to WeWork's global community, which currently stands at approximately 150,000 members, as well as further expand WeWork’s physical presence across the globe.
“Masayoshi Son is a visionary business leader and we are humbled by this strong endorsement of our mission and purpose,” said Adam Neumann, Co-Founder and CEO of WeWork. “This support from SoftBank and the Vision Fund will provide even more opportunities for creators as we set out to humanize the way people work and live.”
“WeWork is leveraging the latest technologies and its own proprietary data systems to radically transform the way people work,” said Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. “Adam’s unique vision and talented team have created a sharing platform that offers maximum flexibility and opportunity to creators of all types, from young entrepreneurs to large multinational companies. We are thrilled to support WeWork as they expand across markets and geographies and unleash a new wave of productivity around the world.”
Overview of SoftBank and the Vision Fund’s Investment into WeWork:
$3 billion investment in WeWork’s parent company via a primary investment in new shares and a secondary purchase of existing shares
$1.4 billion investment in three newly created companies (previously announced), each controlled and managed by local WeWork management teams, which will fund WeWork’s expansion in China (WeWork China), Japan (WeWork Japan) and Southeast Asia and Korea (WeWork Pacific), respectively.
In connection with these transactions, Ronald D. Fisher, SoftBank Group Corp. Director and Vice Chairman, and Mark Schwartz, SoftBank Group Corp. External Director, former Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs Group, and former Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia, will join WeWork’s Board of Directors.
(All figures in USD)
About WeWork
WeWork is a community for creators, providing more than 150,000 members around the world with space, community, and services through both physical and virtual offerings. WeWork’s mission is to help create a world where people work to make a life, not just a living. WeWork currently has more than 160 physical locations in over 50 cities and 16 countries around the world. WeWork was founded in New York City in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. Follow us @WeWork on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook or visit www.wework.com to find out more.
Contacts
Media Contacts:
WeWork
Dominic McMullan / Gwen Rocco / Rebecca McClain
press@wework.com
or
SoftBank
Japan: SoftBank Group
+81 3 6889 2300 or sbpr@softbank.co.jp
or
US: Sard Verbinnen & Co
Emily Claffey / Benjamin Spicehandler / Hannah Dunning
+1 212-687-8080 or SoftBank-SVC@sardverb.com
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